However, I think his submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the handling of child abuse commands not only respect, but also admiration. It adds the voice of a pastor to the public debate. Moreover, the fact that he received a standing ovation after his testimony last week indicates that his is a voice which is loved and appreciated by survivors of sexual abuse.

So Fr.Kevin is now a Cats supporter. When he was PP at St Johns Mitcham,he was well known as a rusted on Swans fan.

As for fixed terms for Popes, I’m with you Father John, particularly now that Papa Benny has set a precedent with his abdication.

Fr.Kevin’s submission and testimony to the Victorian Parliamentary Enquiry into the abuse of children could be seen to be as Sir Humphry would say, courageous. His criticism of the failure to review the process is howver, quite valid. This process always had the potential to be controversial and the Archdiocese should have covered its back.

Mike

Yes, he was public about is defection to the Cats at the time, as a necessary pastoral act and one of self-sacrifice.
I don’t think KD has been too frightened of being “courageous” in the past, and I respect that when he speaks like this it tends to be on issues that transcend the usual liberal/conservative divide.

Monica O’Brien

I just heard you on 7.30 Report – thank you! Honesty and justice are rare commodities coming from priests. I am 77 years old and was, until recent years, a very committed catholic. Over the years I have become so devestated by the knowledge that all that I was taught and that which I believed has been a sham. While we, first as children, then as adults, were being fooled by so many of the clergy and religious. Here in NSW, I and my family were shattered to hear of the diabolical peadophilia of the Gerad Majella Brothers. of Greystanes (our much loved parish) then followed by our respected pp, Richard Cattell, of St. Marys in western sydney, Before that, Fr. Paul Simmons of Wilcannia crossed our path and sort to abuse our grandchildren. I could add much more. To hear Pell blaming everyone but himself and calling the survivors liars is the last straw – is Francis going to call him to account? I was a close email friend of Fr. Kevin Lee (author of “Unholy Silence”, who, since seminary days, was pursuing the church wrong-doers. Kevin married then went public and was dismissed. He then, 2 years ago, very conveniently was drowned in the Philippines. It is rumoured there that he was murdered – fanciful? I will never again go to reconcillation and my moral yardstick is my very well developed consceince. My belief in God is still with me and I communicate with him directly. Fr. Kevin, you are a shining light in a very dim room, may God bless you. Sincerely, Monica O’Brien

Monica O’Brien

Kevin Lee once had a meeting with George Pell to inform Pell (as archbisbop of Sydney) of some wrongdoing by some clergy and religious. Pell’s only response, while showing Kevin the door, “I hope you are wrong, Kevin.”